The ban on magazines and firearms -- passed in 1994 -- represents one
of the most hated pieces of gun control ever enacted. But with less
than two months to go (and Congress being in recess most of that
time), the ban is scheduled to sunset on September 13, 2004.

Anti-gun Senator Dianne Feinstein, however, is not giving up and is
pushing hard to get the semi-auto ban tacked on to some other bill.

So far, you have been instrumental in bolstering the resolve of a few
key Senators, who have managed to thwart Feinstein's every move and,
thus, keep the semi-auto ban from getting to the President's desk.
Consider what you have accomplished in recent months:

* In March, you encouraged Senators to kill a bipartisan bill that
had become loaded down with anti-gun amendments -- riders which
included the semi-auto gun ban. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
could have used parliamentary tactics to disallow all gun-related
amendments, but he specifically rejected that strategy. The
underlying legislation, which would have helped to protect gun makers
from frivolous lawsuits, fell under the weight of your activism
against the anti-gun riders.

* Most recently in July, your efforts resulted in Senator Frist
using the very parliamentary tactics that he had rejected only a few
months earlier. This time, grassroots pressure convinced him to
block the semi-auto ban as an amendment to the class action bill (S.
2062).

Now, there are less than a dozen legislative days left. And the gun
banners are "pulling out all the stops" to get this bill passed.

The focus of their ire is being directed at Senator Frist, since he
was instrumental in keeping anti-gun amendments from being offered to
S. 2062. One anti-gun website is calling on its readers to "flood
Dr. Frist's office with tens of thousands of e-mails telling him to
stop blocking the Assault Weapons Ban renewal."

They are also calling on fellow gun banners to pound House Speaker
Dennis Hastert's office with calls to renew the ban.

So here's the bottom line: We are winning. The clock is ticking and
the Clinton ban will soon die. But the battle is not over yet! The
other side is playing its ultimate trump card -- the friendly liberal
media -- and is reaching deep into its war chest.

Major newspapers are running anti-gun editorials in favor of renewing
the ban. Former Presidents are lobbying Congress with the same
message. Law-enforcement bureaucrats are issuing sound bites in
cities all across the nation.

And Hollywood types such as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford and Barbra
Streisand have written a letter to the President, urging him to
extend the ban for 10 more years.

There is an all-out effort by the other side right now, and we need
to make sure that we are NOT silent. We need to keep the pressure
on.

Like the Phoenix, the gun ban renewal could arise out of the ashes at
any time. After all, both presidential candidates SUPPORT the ban.
Both Kerry and Bush have indicated they want to see the ban renewed.

And even though Majority Leader Tom DeLay has thus far managed to
keep this bill off the floor of the House of Representatives, he is
being threatened by a politically motivated prosecutor in Austin.
His tenure remains in question for the time being, which means that
we, gun owners, must remain eternally vigilant!

ACTION: Please urge your Representative to OPPOSE the renewal of the
semi-auto ban. Remind him or her that this is an election year and
that strident calls from the Brady Bunch in the liberal media do not
decide elections! Here’s what you can do:

1. Use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by
visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers
are also available).

2. Remember also that since all members of the House are up for
reelection -- and Congress is due to take a long summer break --
chances are excellent that you can confront your Rep. in person
during the coming weeks. Don't miss an opportunity to do so.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Representative,

I have noticed an alarming and well-coordinated campaign within the
mainstream media recently regarding the expected sunset of the
semi-auto ban. It is imperative that you not fall victim to the
scare tactics -- that instead, you do the right thing and make
certain that the semi-auto ban dies its well-deserved death.

Anti-gun forces are trotting out law enforcement bureaucrats, former
public officials, Hollywood stars, and anyone else they can find to
decry the Bush administration's "lack of action" in calling for
Congress to immediately reauthorize this odious gun ban.

Truth be told, those gun grabbers are scared -- they know the
American people have thrown out numerous U.S. Representatives in the
past for voting to outlaw these common semi-autos. With a mere
handful of legislative days remaining before the ban sunsets, they
are doing the only thing they can -- working feverishly with their
friends in the liberal media, hoping that press coverage alone will
spook you into getting aboard the gun-ban train.

I urge you to stand fast. The sky has not fallen, and it will not
fall on September 14th. No matter how loud the disarmament crowd and
their lackeys in the press scream, these simple weapons have never
been the choice of criminals and never will be.

The ban should sunset, and no pro-gun Member of Congress should fear
for his or her seat as a result, since media hype does not translate
to defeat at the polls. If the media decided elections, Ronald
Reagan would never have been President.

Hold the line. Better, remind your pro-gun constituents that you are
publicly willing to state that this useless and pernicious law simply
needs to go away.

Eternal vigilance indeed. Keep in mind that once the current ban expires, the clock is still ticking and the banners will only become more frustrated by their impotence on this issue with each new day of freedom. Each day after the sunset will be a day in which the left fumes, and harps on this "issue" as being a "new, massive, irresponsible loophole" and they will probably say it "helps terrorists get guns" -- and they'll say nothing about helping citizens protect themselves and our country from these supposed terrorists -- if the one is true, the other cannot be false.

Guns that "work too well" in the hands of law abiding citizens obsess gun banners beyond any rational ability to let go of the issue just because a day in September passes without a new bill. So new bills with AWBs written into them could be introduced any day thereafter.

Bottom line -- Save your coins -- if we get the expiration, better make hay while the sun shines; when the prices fall and the banned material comes into stock, buy what you need (at reasonable prices -- gougers should be shunned) without undue delay. The window of opportunity could be slammed shut by the forces of liberal oppression at any time they can scrape up a misguided majority in both houses of Congress. And of course if Kerry should win he will pressure Congress to make new gun bans part of his "reasonable measures" for homeland security and blah, blah, blah. Citizen safety be dam*ed.

The thing to do is start building on that sunset, building a new body of legislation that helps to thwart the effort to pass another ban on modern firearms for defense. We need new laws that block another AWB, that define and punctuate the truth that the Second Amendment protects such defensive arms, the firearms which CAN effectively protect good people from any number of bad people. Then when Feinstein exclaims self-righteously that "these guns and magazines have NO purpose but to kill PEOPLE," we can respond, "Dam* straight!" and hand her a copy of the Bill of Rights for her remedial reading.

Any time we gain on the federal front, it is a gain for all of us. Many state legislators take their cues from the Federals and will change their position if told to do so. The CCW states now outnumber the anti- states by far. The information is piling up and we can see some progress coming.

One thing we have to be a little careful about, is how we use the idea that the armed citizen is the guard against terrorists. This can be presented in such a way as to assist our cause, or it can be presented in such a way that we look like a bunch of deranged kooks, looking for a bloodbath. Guess which way the media would prefer to present it.

Sent Bozeman an email again and sent a couple more to the other officials. Sent one to Bush as well. What's the chance he'll actually read it himself instead of one of the secrataries or nobody at all? Anyway, I emailed them about the ban, arming pilots, and another issue as well.

Certainly state restrictions should be vigorously fought at the state level by the residents. As for me, I live in Indiana, one of the most free states with respect to gun rights, and the sunset WILL change "squat" here, among other things.